An Open Letter to Dragon and Dungeon Readers

[Terath Ninir]

Well, I will withhold judgement until I see the finished products, but I'm not too thrilled about the announced changes, myself. I don't give a rat's behind about the miniatures game or the CRPGs, so more content on them doesn't exactly thrill me. Polyhedron is the main reason I keep subscribing to Dungeon, 'cause most of the adventures aren't useful for me. (I'm not saying they're bad, mind you. I just don't have the same style of DMing as most of the adventure writers.)

Again, I'm withholding judgement until I see several issues of each. I'm hopeful that you will be putting out good stuff, but these announcements do worry me.

 

[Rokonin]

Well, I think I'll be picking up a subscription to Dungeon soon.

The Dragon change gets mixed feelings from me. While I do use D&D miniatures and Neverwinter Nights (and other such computer games), I would rather Dragon be solely a RPG magazine. However, we'll see how it goes. The changes could be for the better. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[herald]

So what becomes of Living Greyhawk? Much of what I got the mags for was that content. If that goes, so do I.

 

[pensiv]

hmm. I'll miss Polyhedron. I hope someone picks up on that void, I'd be happy to contribute material.

 

[The_Gneech]

Since the launch of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition, fans of Dragon and Dungeon magazines have rolled with a lot of changes. Absorbing the rules “shock” that came with the new edition of D&D occurred simultaneously with an all-new look and format for the magazines. Add on top of that the changes that came as Paizo Publishing, LLC took over the development and sales of the magazines, and you’re talking about one wild ride!

Overall, I've been pleased with the results.

Over these years, we have learned a lot about our business, ourselves, and you, our customers. We’ve had successes . . . and failures—both of which you’ve been eager to let us know about.

And we’ve been listening.

I can tell!

The results of our efforts will appear this August when we release the “new” Dragon (with issue #323) and Dungeon (with issue #114) magazines. By now, I’m sure you’ve read the cryptic hints left by the editors in response to letters, email, and forum responses.

I did notice the "Dragon Unleashed" ad in the 30-year retrospective issue; and I have to admit my first reaction was, "It ain't broke, why are you fixing it?"

Starting with Issue #323, Dragon Magazine opens its pages to a new era of utility and power. In addition to its usual complement of material that provides D&D roleplaying gamer with the tools they need to raise the level of their play experience, DRAGON will widen its coverage to include articles and information about all aspects of the D&D brand. Whether you knock down dungeon doors in the tabletop RPG, command warbands with the D&D Miniatures game, invade the Underdark online with your closest friends, or enjoy reading about the exploits of your favorite characters, the ‘new’ Dragon magazine is THE source for information and content about your favorite aspects of Dungeons & Dragons. Starting with issue #323, Dragon will contain a bonus quarterly Catalog detailing upcoming D&D releases from Wizards of the Coast, so you’ll have the scoop on the latest products all gathered in one place.

Meaning what exactly? Just a general "coming attractions" thing, or what?

And lest you think we’re skimping on RPG content, the ‘new’ Dragon will have something for every RPG’er, no matter what character they play. With features like the new Class Acts—which provides content for every core D&D character class EVERY issue—and Winning Races—a column that offers a new PC race or monster class progression each issue— Dragon will continue its tradition of providing the best D&D RPG content to its readers.

Sounds cool. How about things like magic items, funky new monsters, and the like?

Beginning with issue #114, Dungeon magazine becomes the ultimate resource for Dungeon Masters. Each issue will contain three adventures, one each for low-, medium-, and high-level play.

That will be an interesting logistical challenge -- to you get that many decent submissions every month at each level?

In order to provide this in-depth offering, Dungeon will now focus exclusively on Dungeons & Dragons—delivering even more high-quality D&D coverage. We listened to your feedback, and it was clear that by trying to serve D&D fans, the d20 market, Star Wars fans, and the RPGA, our magazine wasn’t completely succeeding at delivering the highest quality experience for any of those groups. We know that many of you subscribed to Dungeon for the complete mini-games and articles about Star Wars d20 and D&D Modern. Unfortunately, there weren't enough of you to offset those who left the magazine due to the decrease in the D&D content each issue. The D&D players felt we weren't giving them enough D&D content, and the Polyhedron readers felt that we shorted the d20 stuff. For this reason, after careful thought and some soul searching, we’ve decided to end the long run of Polyhedron Magazine and focus on being the best resource for Dungeon Masters. Regular RPGA updates will transfer to Dragon magazine to reach the largest number of D&D gamers around the world, and we’ll continue to include RPGA Player Reward adventure codes for each Dungeon adventure. With Network material in both magazines, Dragon and Dungeon will support the RPGA like never before.

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. So tell me, any suggestions on where I can go to get the stuff I liked about Polyhedron? As it was, I was happy to pay every issue for Star Wars Gamer (remember that one?) as well as Dungeon/Polyhedron. I want MORE, not less!

Finally, each issue of the magazine will feature Wil Save, a regular column of gaming observations penned by none other than Wil Wheaton of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame.

Oh, lord, spare us. :\ Seriously, no thank you.

Being a part of the D&D 3rd Edition launch, I know firsthand the depth of passion and commitment our audience has toward both D&D and our magazines (I share that commitment, as does Lisa Stevens, our CEO and another member of the 3rd Edition team). We’ll be reading and responding to Internet discussions, and if anyone would like to discuss the relaunch further, you can reach me at Keith@paizo.com.

That's always cool.

-The Gneech

 

[Pramas]

I'd like to raise a goblet and toast Erik Mona for conceiving the Poly mini games and bringing us several years worth of really interesting games that showed what you could do with the d20 System. They were my favorite part of the magazine and I'll miss them (though I understand why this change is right for Paizo).

Thanks for the goodness, Erik!

 

[Terry Edwards]

Dragon Subscription...canceled

Dungeon Subscription...resumed. Wil Save? Fantastic! I haven't heard anything from Mr. Wheaton since he had a home visit from the Screen Savers a year or two ago.

 

[psionotic]

These changes sound interesting. I for one really like the clear split between a player's magazine and a DM's magazine. I'd also like to mirror the comments of another poster when I say that while the minis game and many of the D&D computer games are cool, and I like an occasional article on both, I hope that the major focus of Dragon remains on D&D ....the RPG.

 

[DM_Jeff]

Poly want a (fire) cracker

So to be honest, I have sat on my Dungeon resubscription notice for 2 weeks, debating if it's worth it anymore (my hatred for the jumbled waste of space which was polyhedron knows no bounds). Since issue #7 when I first subscribed, renewing each year was a no-brainer. I've even known 2 friends who let their subscription slide because of poly being in there.

Just two days back I decided I would go with my guts, that the hints to drop Poly were too strong to ignore, and I have been rewarded. Good move, folks. Great move.

As for Dragon, The changes there sound exciting too. All good here methiks.

-DM Jeff

 

[Neo]

I cant say a focused D&D magazine for D&D is a bad thing as it isn't.. But I will mourn the loss of the occassional star wars article or the Minigames from Dungeon.

I'd also go so far as to say I was very surprised by your comments they werent wanted as much as other things, as almost any forum threadm I've seen on the subject where Dungeon and Dragon have been concerned has largely been calls for more minigames or expanding upon the ones that have already been put out there an so forth..

I dont suppose theres any chance of Paizo putting another magazine out that will be purely for the content they are dropping from Dungeon and Dragon any time soon? See for all the D&D fans who want more D&D I imagine there are a large number of D20 modern fans say who want more Modern... the trouble may not necessarily be balancing it for an Issue as opposed to neither having had thier own dedicated production... maybe a D20 Modern Magazine with no D&D content is warrunted also a result at some point down the line?

One thing I hope you guys do get to grips with is Overseas Subscriptions... once upon a time we could subscribe in this country at a UK address and had it distributed to us from a UK address and as a result didnt get hit with overseas shipping costs, which is a big reason why subscribing under current circumstances is not popular over here... most of us get the magazines from our local game stores, which although not bad means we miss out on the extras subscribers get. Dont forget your overseas cousins eh